Welcome to the first Finger Food Friday of summer vacation! I cannot begin to tell you how happy I am that school’s out. It’s been a busy and stressful 10 months. And for the first time in their little academic careers, I must say my kids have truly earned this break! They’re all looking forward to sleeping in, lounging around and spending extra time with their buddies. Of course, that means the hubby and I will be spending extra time with our buddies too. Time to ramp up the finger food menu. Because, after all, that is the easiest and most enjoyable category of food to serve this time of year. Relative newcomers to my finger food collection are these smoky and spicy deviled eggs. They’re made with crisp bacon and piquant chipotle peppers, two ingredients that buddy up nicely with my creamy deviled egg base. On its own, the filling’s a bit overwhelming. But when coupled with the egg white shell, the bite is perfectly balanced.

Another newcomer to my Finger Food Friday fetes is Rampant Imperial IPA, a spring special from New Belgium Brewing in Colorado. This is an interesting American Double IPA. It’s dry and bitter and carries more earthy tones than citrus. Being that I am a citrus-hop kind of girl, I doubt I’ll stock my fridge with many of these. But I can’t deny the fact that those flavors work perfectly with these deviled eggs.

Hope you and yours have a restful and safe Memorial Day Weekend and until next time …

Halve the eggs lengthwise. Carefully remove yolks and place in a small bowl; mash yolks with the back of a fork. Add next 7 ingredients (through garlic powder). Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon mixture into hollowed out egg whites. Garnish with chipotle chile pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving. Makes 8-12 appetizer servings.

*To make chipotle chile puree, place 1 can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce in a blender and process until smooth. Cover and refrigerate or freeze leftover puree for another use.